Display means for floral sprays



Nov. 11, 1969 G. c. THOMPSON ET AL 3,477,669

DISPLAY MEANS FOR FLORAL SPRAYS Filed July 20, 1967 George C. Thompson Paul M Stoddard INVENTORS 9 BY WW am DISPLAY MEANS FOR FLORAL SPRAYS George .C, Thompson, 1313 7th Ave., and Paul M. Stoddard, 2728 W. 14th St. Road, both of Greeley,

' Filed July 20; 1967, Ser. No.654,846

' Ililt. Cl. A47g 7/04; A47b 96/06 US. Cl. 248--27.8 r Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE floral spray holder foruse on a portable easel-type stand. It permits the florist, or an experienced arranger, to. attachandadd two or more floral sprays. It embodies pointed prongs which penetrate and anchor the backing This invention relates to an improved holder for displaying a floral spray andhas to do with an attachment type holder, more particularly, a simple basing or foundation plate or panel having upper and lower spring clips which can be detacha'bly clasped in place on the upright or standard of a portable stand, whereby a single rackequipped stand can be advantageously used to support and present'to view a plurality of selected floral sprays.

Using the herein disclosed attachment the florist, flower arranger,- photographer or other user can cope with limited floor space needs, can create the ever varying display effects desired from floor to ceiling, and, what is highly significant, can position, support and exhibit to view'a floral display with the flowers assuming an inclination or angle appropriate for acceptable presentation. The attachment is easily handled and transported, is quickly attachable and detachable as well as adjustable up or down, can be readily stored, and is aptly usable for virtually any floral sprays commonly made and usable for the occasion at hand.

As above suggested, limited floor space and the crowding together of a multiplicity of portable stands frequently poses a problem when supporting and arranging floral sprays so that they can he presented for single and collective viewing. It follows that the holding and displaying attachment can and does assist in solving the problem in that a single stand, more particularly, the standard or pole thereof can be eflectually used to accommodate a plurality of readily applicable and removable attachments.

Briefly, the attachment comprises a light weight plate or panel which has self-contained means on its median front portion for reliably positioning and anchoring a selected floral spray. The upper and lower ends of the panel are equipped with attaching and retaining means capable of clasping a standard, pole or the like, and adjustably mounting the panel with the spray attached thereto.

More specifically, novelty is predicated on a suitably constructed rectangular or equivalent sheet material panel wherein the upper end portion of the panel isprovided wtih a transverse laterally oflset flange. This flange serves to anchor a first clip. The lower end portion of the plate is bent upon itself to provide a panel inclining, propping and spacing bracket. This bracket is here described as L-shaped in edge or end elevation and it has a horizontal limb or component and a complemental vertical limb. The vertical lirn-b constitutes a second flange and is disposed in a plane common with the first flange. A second clip is mounted on the second flange. Both clips are pref- Patented Nov. 11, 1969 era'bly but not necessarily C-shaped in plan and have flattened bight portions superimposed upon and riveted to their respectively cooperable flanges and the free end portions of the arms of the clips are turned in and then longitudinally bowed to provide resilient embracing and gripping jaws.

As will be hereinafter evident the concept has to do with the combination of the clip-equipped attachment and a suitable standard as shown in FIG. 2 and the attachment by itself.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to'the accompanying drawings forming apart hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in front elevation on a relatively small scale showing a portable flower supporting and presenting stand and the combination therewith of a pair of floral spray supporting and presenting attachments.

FIGURE 2 is a view in perspective on. an appropriately enlarged scale wherein all of the essential. component parts of the attachment are clearly shown.

FIGURE 3 is a central vertical sectional view taken on the plane of the section line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring first to FIG. 1 it will be seen that the portable display stand is denoted, generally described, by the numeral 6. As usual it comprises an upright commonly referred to in the trade as a standard, a support member and sometimes as a pole. This part is here denoted by the numeral 8 and is provided at the bottom with a folding or an equivalent tripodal base 10. The usual attachable and detachable openwork spray rack or head is denoted at 12. The disclosed attachment is such that two or more attachments can be clipped in place on the standard at varying levels depending, of course, on the available floor space and adjacent stands (not shown).

The attachment is denoted by the numeral 14 and comprises a vertically elongated flat faced plate or basing panel 16. The upper end portion of the panel is provided with a transverse laterally oflset flange 18 for an upper or first attaching clip 20. The lower end of the panel or plate is bent upon itself in a direction toward the standard to provide a substantially L-shaped angling and propping bracket 22. More specifically, the bracket comprises a horizontal component or limb 24 and a vertical component or limb 26 which constitutes a second flange and which is in a plane substantially common (see FIG. 3) with the upper flange 18. This flange 26 serves to accommodatingly retain the lower or second attaching and retaining clip 28. Both clips are the same in construction and are arranged one above the other at suitably spaced intervals to attain the attaching and retaining result shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each clip comprises a generally C-shaped member having a flat bight portion 30 which is superimposed on the flange 26 and riveted or otherwise attached thereto as at 32. The longitudinally bowed arms 34 are provided with appropriate return bends 36 which in turn carry arcuately bent resilient gripping jaws 38 which yieldingly embrace and are connected to the standard. Experience has shown that clips thus constructed can be readily snapped in place and subsequently unsnapped and removed. They permit the entire attachment to be rotated from right to left and adjusted up or down to assume a height or level such as may be necessary or desired for best viewing and display purposes. The median upper and lower portions of the plate are provided with hook shaped pointed prongs 40 having headed end portions 42 fixedly secured to the plate or panel as brought out in FIGS. 2 and 3. These prongs penetrate the backing (not shown) of the floral spray and thus anchor and hold it in place. It follows that the component parts shown and described each contribute a proportionate share to the over-all unique attachment. It should be understood however that the essence of the invention has to do with the elongated outwardly and downwardly angled or inclined panel, upper and lower attaching retaining and adjusting clips or clasps and suitable prongs or equivalent means for anchoring the floral spray in place for best viewing.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination, support means embodying a vertical standard, an outwardly and downwardly inclined panel having self-contained means to accommodatingly position and temporarily retain a floral spray for viewing by an observer, said panel having a laterally bent offset flange at its upper end and provided at its lower end with a rearwardly projecting panel inclining, propping and spacing bracket, said bracket being substantially L-shaped in edge elevation, the vertical limb of the L-bracket providing a second flange, a first clip attached to a median rearward surface of said laterally bent offset flange, a second clip complemental to said first clip and disposed in a plane below and aligned with said first clip and attached to a cooperating surface of said vertical limb, said clips being generally C-shaped in plan and having return-bends with turned in arcuately bowed resilient gripping jaws and said jaws detachably and adjustably embracing diametrically opposite sides of the aforementioned standard.

2. The combination defined in claim 1, and wherein said support means comprises an easel-like portable stand embodying a tripodal collapsible base, a standard attached thereto and rising perpendicularly therefrom, the upper end of said standard being provided with a floral spray display rack, and said panel functioning to increase the display capacity and capability by adding at least one additional floral spray and to thereby save floor space.

3. The combination defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein said self-contained means comprises pointed hook-type prongs affixed to and projecting outwardly and forwardly from said panel and adapted to penetrate the usual backing of the associated floral spray in a manner to. detachably anchor and orient the floral spray and to effectually cover and conceal the panel from the observer.

4. For use on a vertical support member such as for example (1) an upright or (2) the standard of an easeltype floral spray displaying stand, a readily applicable and adjustable space saving attachment for said support member capable of presenting an added floral spray to View, said attachment comprising a plate-type panel having selfcontained means on its front face for temporarily positioning and anchoring a selected floral spray for viewing, the upper end portion of said panel being provided with a transverse horizontal laterally offset clip mounting flange, a first attaching and retaining clip mounted on and projec ting rearwardly from said clip mounting flange, the lower portion of said panel being bent upon itself and providing a panel inclining, propping and spacing bracket, said bracket being L-shaped in edge elevation and embodying a horizontal limb and a vertical limb, said vertical limb constituting a second flange and being disposed in a plane common with the plane of said first flange, and a second attaching, retaining and adjusting clip mounted on said second flange.

5. The attachment defined in claim 4, and wherein said clips are aligned and one above the other, said clips being substantially C-shaped in plan and having flattened bight portions superimposed upon and riveted to their respectively cooperable flanges and having turned-in longitudinally bowed resilient standard embracing and gripping jaws.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,073,874 9/1913 Smith 248-425 2,246,441 6/1941 Hurlbut 21l-125 3,370,820 2/1968 Liss et a] 248-230 X ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner F. DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 248-125, 230 

